Blitbole
Blitbole is an ancient Impendian sport and also the type of ball used in the playing of the sport. Blitboles are medium-sized balls made from the flax-like fibers of the woolly structus, able to be picked up in the palm of an Impendian's hand, and usually striped. Field/Teams The Blitbole field is a diamond with three vertical hoops in a row bisecting the two halves of the diamond. Players on the field from both teams stand on each side, the opposite side of a 'runner' from the same team. The goal of each round is for a runner to run up and throw the ball into one of three hoops before being tackled by the opposing team's players. Runners have three chances to get to a hoop after being tackled, with players standing at the sides of the diamond either side of the runner on the first chance and lining up along the hoop line on the second and third chances. A common strategy for players with stronger arms but weaker running abilities is to kneel on the first chance, forcing a second chance where the opposing team has to run from the hoop line to intercept the runner, giving them time to aim and throw. Championship Games The Blitbole Championship is held every cycle on the colony of Capitilos. Rules Blitbole starts with a balancebeetle toss--because balancebeetles have almost identical dorsal and ventral sides for strength and weight-carrying ability, tossing them results in the odds of the beetle landing on one or the other side being effectively the same. In rare cases where the beetle's legs emerge and it rights itself in mid-air, the team that loses the throw gets a 5 second head start in running. Runners stand on a mark at two opposite points of the diamond, and a ball is placed on a mark just out of reach. Runners must run and grab the ball and either kneel to sacrifice a chance at running or run toward one of three vertical hoops, throwing the ball through and jumping if necessary. The opposing team first starts at the sides of the diamond either side of the runner of the opposing team, and must try to tackle the runner before an opportunity to throw or reach the hoop. On subsequent chances, the defense stands instead along the line in the center of the field where hoops are, and run toward the runner to try and tackle. The opposing team may intercept the ball, in which case, that intercepting player becomes an additional runner for that team, and must run the ball to the opposite point without being tackled. Balls cannot be passed, and each possession of the ball gives that possessor three chances to run the ball. Balls thrown out of bounds end a chance where the ball was thrown from. Intercepting a ball and successfully running it to the opposite end before the other ball has been thrown through a hoop or taken to the opposite side ends the round for the other ball. Tosses through a hoop must be made before reaching a toss line, or else the runner can jump but must put the ball through the hoop before landing. If this attempt is failed, the ball is open to interception from either team and run to that team's starting point. If the attempt is a success, the round has ended for that ball. A starting runner CAN be an interceptor and runner of the opposing team's ball. Balls thrown through any hoop are worth 1 point, and those run across to the other side are worth 2 points. Rounds begin when a runner starts running, and end when both balls have either been successfully thrown through a hoop, when one is thrown through a hoop and the other then run to the opposite side, when one is run to the opposite side before the other is thrown through a hoop or run to an opposite side, or when both team's chances have been exhausted. The team with the most points at the end of 20 rounds wins. Ties at the end of 20 rounds result in one additional round where three players from each team run from either side and try to throw all three balls through each hoop. Runners must throw their ball through their designated hoop but may knock a ball back through a hoop to nullify that throw. Otherwise, whichever ball makes it through first is counted for that team.